San Francisco’s Department of Public Health has said it will close its two high-volume COVID-19 vaccination sites for the next few days due to “limited, inconsistent and unpredictable” offers.
In a statement Sunday, officials said the sites in the city at the Moscone Center and City College in San Francisco have increased the supply of vaccine by the department, pharmacies and health care providers to an average of 7,400 doses over the past seven days.
These numbers helped increase the percentage of the city’s population over the age of 65 to receive a vaccine from 31 percent at the beginning of last week to 47 percent.
But the dwindling supply is forcing difficult choices, including the closure of the Moscone Center site in the city for one week. The site, run in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, Adventist Health, the California Medical Association, Dignity Health, Futuro Health and the California Primary Care Association, will reopen as soon as enough vaccines arrive to begin again.
The City College yard will stand still this week before reopening on Friday, but only to give second doses. A third large volume of premises at the SF Market in the Bayview neighborhood is expected to open later this week, with the settlement of scheduled appointments without cancellation but the restriction of other appointments, which are only available with confirmed vaccination.
“The vaccine supply to San Francisco’s healthcare providers and the Department of Public Health (DPH) is limited, inconsistent and unpredictable, which complicates the explosion of the vaccine and San Franciscans denies this potentially life-saving intervention,” officials said Sunday.
According to the city health department, the city has administered more than 190,000 of 262,000 doses to city residents, and plans to use the remaining supplies for first appointments and scheduled second doses.
City officials opened the large premises last month with the aim of vaccinating the entire population by 30 June. It will require more than 1.5 million doses to vaccinate more than 760,000 residents over the age of 16.
Anyone looking for updates on vaccination efforts in the city can visit the city’s website at https://sf.gov/covid-19-vaccine-san-francisco. People living and working in San Francisco can sign up for vaccination through sf.gov/vaccinenotify.
Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.